In the days since the Supreme Court decision upholding Obamacare, some Democrats and commentators in the press have suggested that Mitt Romney is declaring a cease-fire on the issue and will no longer make it a centerpiece of his campaign to defeat President Obama.

So is the Romney campaign, in fact, declaring a cease-fire on Obamacare? No, no, no, says Romney spokesman Ryan Williams. From our perspective, Obamacare has been and will continue to be a central issue in the campaign, says Williams. It presents voters with a bright line that divides the two candidates. Gov. Romney is going to repeal Obamacare and President Obama is going to keep it. There is a clear choice in November.

It is something that [Romney] has been discussing on the campaign trail for the past year and that he will continue to discuss, Williams adds. It is bad law, it is bad policy, and its something that Gov. Romney is going to address on his first day in office. His commitment to repealing Obamacare is as strong as it was on the day Congress jammed it down the throat of the American public.

Or, maybe people shouldn’t rely on opinion pieces by “staff reporters” and should wait for information from the source. Some people are just too darn eager to turn Romney into McCain. Do we really want that result again?

5
posted on 07/03/2012 12:16:24 PM PDT
by Cherokee Conservative
(If a tree falls over in the woods, and then snaps back upright as a joke, do the squirrels laugh?)

There seems to be many trolls..... errr ‘conservative’ freepers that are only too happy to run with anything (even if unsourced or reported by staff reporters) that would result in Obama being re-elected.

Steve Hayes has a very good takeout on the Romney campaigns bizarre decision to throwback the Obamacare-tax issue yesterday. Steve writes:

One of the few bright spots in last weeks Supreme Court ruling on President Obamas health care overhaul was a political one: The opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts argues that Obamacare is constitutional under the taxing powers of Congress. The Obama administrations advocate before the Court, Solicitor General Donald Verrilli, made this case during oral arguments, and Roberts bought it. The decision, in a sense, formalized what many conservatives had long argued: The Obamacare tax is a tax.

The politics could have hardly been better: The Obama administration and other Democrats would not only have to defend an unpopular law, but theyd have to try explain that a mandate upheld because of the power of Congress to tax was not, in fact, a tax. Democrats tried unsuccessfully to make that case this weekend with White House chief of staff Jack Lew and House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, among others, struggling to deflect the obvious implications of the Courts decisions.

Those struggles may have ended yesterday morning when the Romney campaign announced that their candidate does not consider the mandate a tax. Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom appeared on MSNBCs Daily Rundown with Chuck Todd, where he agreed with the hosts assertion that Romney believes that you should not call the penalty a tax.Fehrnstrom explained: The governor disagreed with the ruling of the Court. He agreed with the dissent written by Justice Scalia, which very clearly stated that the mandate is not a tax. Later, Romney spokeswoman Amanda Hennenberg confirmed that Romney doesnt consider the mandate a tax, telling ABC News: Governor Romney thinks it is an unconstitutional penalty.

Steve rightly notes that there are other responses  good, solid, American-made responses  Fehrnstrom could have gone with instead. For instance, states have more established police powers so a penalty in Massachusettss mandates may indeed be a penalty, but a tax masquerading as a penalty at the federal level may still be a tax. He could have simply hammered the fact that Obamas own view of the law was repudiated by the Supreme Court and thats all that matters (a point I make in USA Today today). Heck, he could have just shouted squirrel!

Indeed, Fehrnstrom need not give an impregnable, irrefutable, answer. He need only turn the question back on Obama. Instead the Romney campaign threw Obama a lifeline. The whole Hayes piece is worth reading, but what comes away from it for me is that Romney wants to go into a clinch, to borrow a phrase from boxing, and break out of it only to land haymakers on the economy. I think it is an incredibly dangerous, risk-averse, strategy.

12
posted on 07/03/2012 12:22:30 PM PDT
by roses of sharon
("Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise." Luke 23:43)

rogue yam continues insulting FReeRepublic
claiming it is faux “conservative” because it does
not bow in support rogue yam’s Liberal Love,
the author of BOTH RomneyCARE, RomneyDEATHPANELS,
RomneySTATISM, RomneyCRAVENNESS, and RomneyMARRIAGE.

Frankly, this week, Mr. RomneyCARE has shown he
is nothing but coward, as he hid under cover from BOTH
the SCOTUS ruling AND Fast and Furious.

[Mr. RomneyCARE ONLY comes out from hiding to
defend Obama and protect himself.]

17
posted on 07/03/2012 12:27:38 PM PDT
by Diogenesis
("Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. " Pres. Ronald Reagan)

Tell you what Yam. You explain to me how a conservative can vote for Romney without abandoning his conservative beliefs to do so and I vow right here and now to campaign HARD for Mitt Romney on FR and everywhere else.

Further, Ill apologize to everyone here, state I was wrong and help you get a liberal elected to the highest office in the land.

With a smile.

Deal?

This is an open invitation to you, Levin, Laura any freeper and anyone else on the planet.

You want him elected so bad? Then answer that one question honestly and factually and without resorting to “The other guy is worse” and I will devote myself to helping you.

"We don't intend to turn the Republican Party over to the traitors in the battle just ended. We will have no more of those candidates who are pledged to the same goals as our opposition and who seek our support. Turning the Party over to the so-called moderates wouldn't make any sense at all."" -- President Ronald Reagan

31
posted on 07/03/2012 12:53:57 PM PDT
by Diogenesis
("Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. " Pres. Ronald Reagan)

Kamikaze conservatives go negative almost immediately when a bad poll or a bad story or rumor surfaces. They never look at a poll’s internals and will even trust stories from the MSM (think about that). Their reactions are not only negative but catastrophically dire, hence the name I have given them. They are political lemmings who will give up at the first sign of trouble. They also will quit if they dont get everything their way. They have and will ‘stay home’ on election day to try to make a point. In many ways, Kamikaze conservatives are just as dangerous as Rinos since they can be fickle.

A poster during WW2 read: “loose lips sink ships”. It applies to today as well. Our country and our freedoms are in peril more than any other time in history. The task ahead is huge but doable. There is lots to do between now and November 6. The trends, polls, and the views of the electorate are on our side. We need to look at the big picture and the main messages, not what one person said ( or what someone was reported to say). We need to say focused to win.

Fehrnstrom allowed Chuck Todd to push him off messageand re-ignited the fears that conservatives have long had about Romneys will and ability to fight. In response, conservativeswho had just coalesced around opposition to what many now call Obamataxexhort:

Mitt, start fighting, or give up and let someone else do it.

42
posted on 07/03/2012 1:10:25 PM PDT
by roses of sharon
("Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise." Luke 23:43)

Actually, Romney gets around Romneycare by saying, and maybe even believing, that healthcare is a state issue and not to be decided by the Feds. He is correct in this assessment, whether he really believes it or not is another thing. Personally, I will vote for Romney, the alternative is too horrible to contemplate. Why anyone is still bad mouthing him is beyond my understanding. You are either for Obama or against him, there is no alternative, vote for Romney or let Bozo skate back into office.

Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.